Paul D'Amour (born 1968 or 1969) is an American musician who was the original bassist for

Tool A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by animals, animals use simple tools, only human bei ...

. His bass sound is recognized by the aggressive picked tone he developed with his Chris Squire Signature Rickenbacker 4001CS, which can be heard on Tool's first full-length album, '' Undertow''. Since March 2019, he has been the bassist for

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...

band Ministry.

Biography

D'Amour was born in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

. Originally a guitarist, D'Amour became Tool's bassist after being introduced to the band by Adam Jones. Like Jones, D'Amour was in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

because of his wish to enter the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production company, production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre- ...

. D'Amour built movie sets and worked in an art department on music videos and commercials. D'Amour notably appeared on Tool's debut release, ''

Opiate An opiate is an alkaloid substance derived from opium (or poppy straw). It differs from the similar term ''opioid'' in that the latter is used to designate all substances, both natural and synthetic, that bind to opioid receptors in the brain ( ...

'', in 1992 and also '' Undertow'' the following year. The band achieved mainstream success due to ''Undertow'', fueled by the charting singles " Sober" and " Prison Sex". In late 1995, D'Amour left Tool during the early recording stages of the ''

Ænima ''Ænima'' ( ) is the second studio album by the American rock band Tool. It was released in vinyl format on September 17, 1996, and in compact disc format on October 1, 1996, through Zoo Entertainment. The album was recorded and cut at Ocea ...

'' album. He was ultimately credited as a co-writer on five songs. According to drummer

Danny Carey Daniel Edwin Carey (born May 10, 1961) is an American musician who is the drummer for the progressive metal band Tool. He has also contributed to albums by artists such as Zaum, Green Jellö, Pigface, Skinny Puppy, Adrian Belew, Carole Kin ...

, D'Amour left the band because he wanted to play guitar rather than bass. D'Amour corroborated this in 2020 saying, "I always wanted to do other things, and it felt like I was too much in a box with that band ... I'm not just a bass player; I'm a creator, I wanted to have a bigger role, and it just wasn't happening in that situation." After his departure from Tool, he formed the psychedelic pop band Lusk with

Brad Laner Brad Laner (born November 6, 1966, in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician and record producer best known for his work with the shoegaze band Medicine (band), Medicine, which he founded and led. Prior to Medicine, he was involved i ...

, Chris Pitman (future member of

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

), and Greg Edwards of

Failure Failure is the social concept of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and is usually viewed as the opposite of success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. On ...

and Autolux. In 1997, they released their only album, entitled '' Free Mars''. In addition, D'Amour played guitar in a group named Replicants, a cover band that included Ken Andrews and Greg Edwards from Failure, as well as Chris Pitman. They released one self-titled album in 1995, with a guest appearance from former Tool bandmate Maynard James Keenan. In early 2005, D'Amour wrote and performed under the name Feersum Ennjin. The name is inspired by the science fiction novel '' Feersum Endjinn'' by Iain Banks, an author whose novel '' The Wasp Factory'' was conceptual inspiration for Lusk as well. The project released a self-titled EP on Silent Uproar Records. In 2011, a self-titled LP was released on Dissociated Press, featuring some songs that had been released previously and some new ones. On the first track of the LP, "The Fourth", former

band-mate

plays drums. D'Amour also played bass in the band Lesser Key. The group consists of Andrew Zamudio (vocals), Brett Fanger (guitar), and Justin Hanson (drums). The band "represents an exploration into personal and artistic freedom." On July 26, 2013, the band released a video of their debut single "Intercession." Their debut EP was produced by former Tool producer

Sylvia Massy Sylvia Lenore Massy is an American record producer, mixer, and engineer. Her first major breakthrough occurred with 1993's ''Undertow (Tool album), Undertow'', the full-length triple platinum-selling debut for Los Angeles alternative metal band ...

and released on April 1, 2014 on Sumerian Records. As of late March 2019, D'Amour joined Ministry as the band's newest bass player, replacing

Tony Campos Antonio Campos (born March 8, 1973) is an American musician. He is the current bassist for the industrial metal bands Static-X and Fear Factory and the vocalist and bassist for the extreme metal band Asesino. He has previously played with Prong ...

Selected discography

;With Tool * ''

'' (1992) * '' Undertow'' (1993) ;With Replicants * '' Replicants'' (1995) ;With Lusk * '' Free Mars'' (1997) ;With Feersum Ennjin * ''Feersum Ennjin'' (2011) ;With Lesser Key * ''Lesser Key'' (2014) ;With Ministry * '' Moral Hygiene'' (2021) * '' Hopiumforthemasses'' (2024)

References

External links

* *
Feersum Ennjin official band website

Artist page on Silent Uproar Records
* {{DEFAULTSORT:D'Amour, Paul 1967 births 20th-century American bass guitarists 21st-century American bass guitarists Living people American heavy metal bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Musicians from Spokane, Washington Tool (band) members Ministry (band) members Replicants (band) members Progressive metal bass guitarists Alternative metal bass guitarists American experimental musicians Industrial metal musicians Lusk (band) members